Chasm of Memories
by Itsy-Evil-Spiders
Summary: Complete summary is inside...but let's just say that the gentle perfect school girl Namine isn't all what she seems...and her family is a lie too...until she meets him...Naximas chapter 3 uploaded
1. Chapter 1

A/n Nice title, no? Don't worry; this is just a regular AU story of Roxas and Namine, my two favourite Nobodies. This is my 2nd Kingdom Hearts fic, and I just got the 2nd game which is so freaking awesome! I fell hard for the two characters, and while listening to Passion, I got the inspiration for an angst teenage story...with some life's experience of my own. Now, I'm rambling, and I should be beginning.

Summary: Namine seems to be perfect...she has the perfect family, the perfect friends, the perfect life, like a diamond of the sea. But no one knew of the pain she felt inside...of something, someone missing. Up until he comes...Roxas, are you for real?

Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once, but I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or else I would've made an anime by now. But alas, I do not. I also don't own Passion, or any lines of songs I will use for chapter titles. I wish I could meet Utada Hikaru

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: "Omoidaseba haruka haruka..." (When I remember back far, far...)

"Okaa-san?"

A girl of fifteen peered around the expensive molding of the doorway to the mansion's office. Her light blonde hair swayed slightly, and her eyes were like the deep blue sea.

"Yes Namine-chan?" Her mother was a fast-forward version of her daughter: graceful blonde hair, flawless skin, and deep blue eyes like sapphires.

But her eyes were soulless.

"I shall be leaving for my new school, I won't be able to see you until this weekend."

"Be sure you are back at the dorms by 6. I do not want you out in this town at night."

Namine bowed her head slightly.

"Understood."

Namine left the room, while her mother continued to stare at the scattered papers on the oak wood desk in front of her.

_Namine..._

--------------------------------------------------------------

Namine walked in the happy bustling streets of Twilight Town, unnoticed by the crowds that passed her by. Today, she was starting at her new boarding school, Twilight High, since she moved from her previous home in Destiny Islands.

Her cousin, Kairi, was so distraught when she heard that Namine was leaving and it was all because of a stupid marriage proposal. Her mother, Yatsuka Hikari, became engaged to Ansem Wise, who was a millionaire due to his long line of research and scientific discoveries. Sometimes, he was even called, "Ansem the Wise."

Namine had been against the marriage from the start, especially since Ansem looked old enough to be her grandfather, but she had no say in the matter. The only reason they married was because it was an arranged marriage due to the Hikari and Wise clans being the most influential families in Japan (A/n okay, that might not be correct, but I say they're from Japan, and that Destiny Islands are just off the coast) and a bond was formed.

Long story short, Namine was angry because her mom was giving up her dignity for an arranged marriage. Who would be happy with that kind of thing?

Few weeks after the marriage, Ansem packed them up, and moved them to Twilight Town for the sake of his business, and her mother gave up her artistic career and buried herself in the field of...science too.

"Okaa-san, how could you do this?" Namine looked up into the sky, the calm azure blue and fiery orange mixing together in the light of the morning.

_So, this is why they call it Twilight Town, I suppose..._

Namine was so busy in her thoughts; she didn't even notice the boy skateboarding right in her direction.

"Watch out!"

Before she knew it, Namine was crashed into the ground, with the boy right on top of her.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Owww...that hurt." Namine rubbed her bruised head, and felt weight on top of her.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Namine opened her eyes to stare up into bright blue orbs, seeing her reflection in them. She stared transfixed, until his voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Did you hear me?" He spoke again, sounding more urgent.

"Can you please get off me?"

The boy and Namine were in a...ahem...suggestive position, with the boy's arms trapping her own, and his leg in between her knees, slightly pushing up her plaid pleated skirt.

"Oh! Sorry!" The boy stood up quickly, holding out his hand to her, a light red colouring his face.

"It's alright. I should have been paying attention." Namine brushed off her uniform skirt, and had full view of the boy who crashed into her.

He had spiky blonde hair that stood up in odd angles, and bright blue eyes. He was about half a foot taller than her, and was wearing a school uniform, bearing the school insignia similar to the one on her own blazer.

"Hey...do you go to Twilight High?" She inquired.

"Unfortunately, yes...why? You starting there?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Mimicking his own statement.

"Well, I hope you like it here, I guess...by the way, name's Roxas Iota."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Namine Hikari—I mean Wise." She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Well, aren't you polite, Wise-san." He took her hand and shook it, smiling.

Namine smiled back gently, her aura of serenity having Roxas slightly taken back. He hasn't met someone so...gentle...

"Um...well, I suppose since you're new around here, I'll show you around...if you want." Roxas gained back his composure, letting go off her hand.

"I think I might need it...this town is too big..." Namine started to walk, while Roxas followed her slowly on his skateboard.

"Well, when you been here as long as I have, the town starts to familiarize itself."

"How long have you lived here?" Namine looked at him, whose face was trapped in thought.

"Huh, I think I've lived here since I was three years old...but it seems like forever..."

"It must be nice to live here." Namine said, pulling her blazer tighter around her, as a breeze went by.

"Well, now I've poured my heart out to a complete stranger. Now shouldn't you do the same?" He smirked slightly, making her giggle.

"I've moved here from Destiny Islands, and my stepfather is Ansem Wise, one of the most famous scientists in the scientific community—"

"Your dad's the millionaire genius?" Roxas's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

"My _stepfather_ and yes he is."

"And your mother is Yatsuka Hikari, one of the most inspiring fantasy artists in Japan."

_Used to be._ Namine thought bitterly, but continued to smile.

"That must be cool, having your parents be the most influential people in the country." Roxas looked at her, and was surprised to see her face planted with sad eyes.

"Yes, it is very nice..." She replied stiffly. Namine, sensing questions from her new friend, walked even faster.

"Um, well..." Roxas rubbed the back of his head in discomfort, feeling immediately sorry for gushing like that. "The school is up ahead..."

Twilight High was a large campus, filled to the brim with students with all similar uniforms. Namine sighed in relief; Roxas's presence was starting to make her anxious.

"Well, thank you for keeping me company. I hope that we may talk to each other again sometime soon." Namine smiled, and Roxas shifted nervously once his feet touched the ground from his skateboard.

"Well, maybe during lunch today? I can introduce you to some people if you want...some of my friends..." Roxas combed his hand through his hair, subconsciously hoping for a yes.

Namine's eyes opened in surprise.

"Well, I suppose...it would be nice. Sure Iota-kun, it's a date." Namine smiled, chuckling in her head at how out of character she sounded.

Roxas blushed slightly at her sentence, but suddenly regained his composure.

"Okay, see you then." Roxas went back into weird boy mode, hopped onto his skateboard, and skated away through the school's courtyard, nearly running into people as he went.

Namine smiled to herself, but then it turned into a frown.

_I don't want to make friends here. No matter how nice they are..._

_...or cute._

A/n End of chapter one! Sorry it might be kind of short, but hey, it's plot development. I'm juggling a bunch of different stories right now, some not even posted yet, but they'll be up and running soon. Hope you guys are hungry for the next chapter, but I'll only update if I get at least 13 reviews (my favourite lucky unlucky number). So review for the next chapter!

Nest chapter: Namine meets Roxas's friends, gets situated with her new classes, gets a surprising room mate partner, learns to break free, but then gets trapped back in her cage, becoming the perfect girl she's supposed to be...plus Roxas learns a thing or two about Namine's true family and what it's really like...


	2. Chapter 2

A/n Okay...so I didn't get the 13 reviews I had wanted...but I'm hearing a lot of eager KH fans wanting to hear what happens next, so I will update at least every week or so. BUT, if reviews are slow or not decent in number, then I WILL NOT UPDATE! I need to have critique on my stories, or else I will get writer's block, and that will not only hurt me (emotionally and imagination-wise) but everyone who wants to know what's going to come next. Also, this story is going to serve as a break while I gather more inspiration for YEWYD, so don't kill me.

Okay, where we last left off, Roxas and Namine bumped into each other...literally. So with friendly yet slightly awkward conversation, Namine is not very eager to make friends, but she may soon change her mind due to a certain red-head and a very cute spiky-blonde haired boy...

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or "Passion" by Utada Hikaru. If I did, I would know the reasons why Disney and Square-Enix chose Haley Joe Osmet and Jesse McCartney to play the parts of Sora and Roxas. I laughed myself into a coma b/c I had no idea why in Hell they would choose Jesse McCartney to play Roxas...oh yeah, no offense to you Mr. McCartney, in case you ever see this. Horacio, please stop laughing at me. Oh yeah, Bianca and Horacio are my characters. You'll hear of them soon enough.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: "Mirai wa doko made mo kageyaiteta..." (The future was forever shining...)

The halls seemed to echo Namine's current mood:

Empty, plain, and uninteresting.

The blonde-haired girl sighed and made her way to the main office, which was located right by the dorms. She tentatively walked inside, seeing a spiky-haired brown youth there, not much older than she was.

"Are you just going to stand there, or come up and speak?" Namine was taken by surprise; his voice was low, but seemed to boom around the small office.

"Umm...I'm new here and I'm here to pick up my schedule...My name is Namine Wise." Namine struggled to keep her voice calm, but after the young man's previous outburst, she was a little shaken.

"Got it." She got a closer look at his face. His eyes were dark, and he had spiky-brown hair that fell to his shoulders, and had a scar across his nose.

"Here you go; oh, and in case you're here again, which I expect you will, name's Leon." He gave her a brief look-over, then handed her the schedule. With a final look at her, he exited to the back room, a copier going off.

Namine stared confused after Leon, and then looked at her schedule:

1st period: Algebra 2, Yoshitama , 301

2nd period: World History, Matako , 208

Lunch

3rd period: English, Bowles , 102

4th period: Biology, Hikaru , 106

5th period: Academic Decathlon, Bowles , 102

6th period: Art, Kinimoto , 300

Namine sighed once more after seeing her schedule. She was going to be all over the place due to where her classrooms were placed. She then took a look at her dorm number, and then gave a small gasp:

Dorm Hall: Hoshii Hall

Room Number: 100

Roommate(s): Hikari, Kairi

Never had she run so fast in her life.

----------------------------------------

By the time Namine got to Hoshii Hall, her hair and uniform was quite disheveled, and despite her calm demeanor she was so used to, she couldn't be more excited. She quickly fixed herself up to look presentably, and then knocked lightly on the door.

She heard a loud bump and then a swear, only to receive a rather loud yell in her face.

"OKAY! NO I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY COUSIN IS, AND I WILL NOT GIVE YOU HER NUMBER!" Kairi looked extremely red in the face, and snarled under her breath before she realized that she had yelled right into the face of the said cousin.

"It's a pleasure to see you too Kairi-chan..." Namine fell over from shock, while her cousin came to aid her.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Namine-chan...I didn't mean to yell at you like that..." Kairi was falling under the magic of guilt, and helped up Namine.

"It's quite alright Kairi-chan..." Namine gave her cousin a smile, just before she pulled Kairi into a bone-crushing hug.

"Umm...Namine-chan...can't breathe..." No more evidence was needed other than Kairi turning blue in her normally pale face.

"Forgive me. It's just...what are you doing here?" Kairi gave a huge smile, just like the one she was always used to.

"Okaa-san let me come to school here, and she offered to pay for everything just so I can hang out with you. You know nothing can keep us apart."

Namine slung an arm over her cousin's shoulder.

"I know that; sometimes, it's like we're half the same person..."

"Yeah, and even though I'm your best part, I think I saw _your_ other half bump into you this morning..." Kairi said with a sly smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" Namine asked, with a totally clueless look on her face.

"I saw that boy you were walking with this morning...my, Namine-chan, you work fast..."

"Um...why do we keep adding honorifics to the ends of our names even though we're related?" Namine eagerly tried to change the topic.

"Don't change the subject Namine-chan. He certainly was cute, and you know his name too..." Kairi smirked in triumph while Namine hastily put away her packed items into their respective drawers.

"Iota-kun is a gentleman; so do not talk about him in such a matter." Namine gave Kairi a glare that only caused her to grin wider.

"Oh, so he is a gentleman?"

"Please stop that."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Roxas? Hello? Anyone home?"

Roxas snapped out of his trance to see his brother Sora rapping his knuckles on his skull. He slapped his fingers away and went back to staring out into space.

Sora sighed and ran a hand through his rebellious spiky hair. Roxas had been like that all afternoon, and he was getting frustrated along with Pence, Hayner, Axel, and Riku.

"He's probably thinking about that hot new girl he kept trying to flirt with this morning; you know blonde hair, blue eyes, and great legs. Got it memorized?" Axel smirked as Roxas snapped his head in his direction, a slight streak of red across his face.

"Don't talk about Wise-san like that."

"Oh, so you know her identity, eh Roxas?" Axel snickered, clearly enjoying the effect his words were having on the younger boy.

"Shut up Axel! Or else do I have to tell everyone about that crush you have on Bian—"

Axel slapped a hand over Roxas' mouth, glaring at him.

"You know nothing."

Roxas merely rolled his blue eyes and licked Axel's hand.

"Dude, you are way beyond gross Iota-kun." Axel wiped his hand against his torn khakis and jogged off in some random direction, every girl gazing longingly at his devishly bright red hair.

"Aren't there two new girls?" Riku asked thoughtfully as he sat next to Sora. Roxas only shrugged.

"Not like I can tell; I can never keep track with any of the girls here..."

"So is that why you are still single?" Pence asked innocently while Hayner, Sora, and Riku burst out laughing. Roxas only burned with anger as his face grew hot; he always hated being the center of everyone's attention.

"Shut up...it's not like I'm in love with a stupid camera..."

"Don't talk about Clarrisa like that!" Pence held his precious camera protectively against him.

"Jeez...that is way beyond creepy Pence." Hayner sweatdropped nervously, slowly scooting away from the raven-haired boy as he kept muttering, "My precious..."

------------------------------------------------------

Namine yawned, obviously bored. Her first two periods were boring to the core, but the 2nd one still lasted an eternity...or at least until 5 minutes were up.

Kairi had been chatting with some of the local boys at once. Namine just waited in the corner of the hall while Kairi collected numbers. Kairi was always the most popular one at their old school, while Namine stood in the background.

"And that is the summary of what we'll be learning this year...you are now dismissed..." Matako-sensei finished the lecture at last, and everyone was practically flocking to the door to lunch. Namine sighed in relief, and made her way to her cousin who was waiting in the hall for her.

"That was boring, wasn't it Namine?"

"Yes, it was very unpleasant, but we'll have to put up with Matako-sensei's drone for the rest of the year..."

Before they knew it, they were in the cafeteria, where hundreds of students instinctively split off into different cliques and groups. A group of snobby-looking girls waved at Kairi, who nervously waved back.

"Okay, do you think we can make a quick getaway before they turn us into cheerleader zombies?" Kairi muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

Namine frowned, but then saw a familiar spiky-blonde head moving swiftly through the crowd, heading towards the courtyard just outside the doors.

"This way." Namine grabbed Kairi's hand, and pulled her away through a huge line and but through a few tables to get outside. The boy was sitting with a group of kids who were chatting casually, with a couple of girls teasing him about something.

"Oh, I see. It's the boy from this morning." Kairi smirked again, while Namine rolled her eyes.

"Um...Iota-kun?" Namine timidly spoke as the whole table turned their attention on the two girls.

"Wise-san! You came!" Roxas exclaimed a little too eagerly. The boys around continued to snicker, while he gave them a short glare.

"Um...anyway, welcome to our table." Roxas said, regaining his laid-back composure.

"Wow, so formal Roxas. Don't mind him; he can't help himself when he's around a pretty girl." A silver-haired boy said with beautiful green eyes.

"Anyway, you can eat with us." Roxas made room for the two girls to sit, and then proceeded to eat from their bento boxes.

"Anyway, I'm Roxas Iota as you know, and this is my twin brother Sora—" He pointed to Sora who was now staring openly at Kairi, who gave back a shy smile. "This is Riku Arima and Axel Asage—" The wild red-haired boy grinned at silver-haired Riku with an amused expression on his face.

"I'm Hayner Djibouti, and this is our camera-obsessed pal Pence." The other blonde-haired boy holding a camo-print skateboard locked under his arm nodded towards Pence who glared at him before giving them a friendly smile.

"And we're Olette and Selphie! Nice to meet you!" Two browned haired girls said in unison, while everyone stared at their obvious straightforwardness and hyperness.

"Please excuse them two, they're on a sugar high. How you like the school, sweet thangs?" Axel said smoothly; this resulted in three events happening:

Kairi giggling like mad.

Namine blushing severely.

Roxas and Sora looking so livid it looked like they were about to create a sizzling orifice in Axel's head with their eyes.

Riku bit back a laugh and looked Namine. The way she moved, her blonde hair, and pretty blue eyes struck something in him...

_Whoa, hands off Riku. You have enough trouble with girls as it is._

Riku was reprimanding himself in his head, but all the while, he kept looking at Namine with a bit of something in his green orbs while she laughed with Olette, Selphie and Kairi.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Why'd you have to go and say that Axel!" Roxas was now yelling at Axel, getting red in the face, while Axel just laid back and laughed.

"How many times I gotta tell ya Roxas? You like this girl, take a dive! Got it memorized?" He poked at Roxas's temple, causing him to pout in disdain.

"Sure, I'll take the dive when you ask out Bianca-chan on a date."

Axel's face turned immediately into a frown.

"You know why I can't."

"No I don't Axel; you're too vague on the whole subject matter, and it makes my brain hurt like Hell."

"Didn't even know you had a brain."

"Don't change the subject."

Axel gave a look of anger on his face, and it was pointed directly at the subject of the whole conversation: Bianca Ikumi, black curls and bright amber eyes walking right towards them; the foreign-exchange-student-from-America-who's-totally-hott-in-Axel's-opinion girl, who spotted the said crusher and waved happily.

"Asage-san! Wait up!" The girl's high-pitched voice raised hairs on the back of Axel's neck, and he strode off in some random direction, leaving Bianca confused.

"Iota-kun, what's wrong with him? He's been ignoring me all week..." The amber-eyed female questioned Roxas, who bit back his tongue.

"Um...he's not feeling himself lately..."

"Is he sick?"

"Something like that..." Roxas shrugged his shoulders in an effort to look honest. Fortunately, Bianca bought it: hook, line, and sinker.

"Tell him I hope he feels better..." She walked off with a slightly hurt look on her face.

_Hell yeah, he's sick Bianca. He's lovesick for a certain foreign-exchange student..._

---------------------------------------------------

Namine and Kairi walked back to the girls' dorms later that afternoon after all their classes. Kairi had been desperately keeping the male gold-diggers away from Namine and trying to avoid cheerleader preps at the same time for Namine's sake.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that trouble Kairi. My apologies." Namine bowed, while Kairi looked on with an amused expression.

"Jeez, Namine. You're always so proper. You don't need to apologize to me. I'm your cousin and it's my job, no matter what." Kairi said happily as she pulled her reddish hair into a messy ponytail. Namine slumped on her bed, pulling out her sketchpad.

"Something that I like...something that I admire..." Namine muttered to herself as she tried to think of an idea for her art assignment.

"Iota-kun."

"Huh?" Namine looked up, surprised.

"He told me to tell you that he was going to come later with Olette and Riku to our room. He wants to get to know you better." Kairi said as she belly-flopped on her bed opposite from Namine's, stray strands of red flying around her face.

"I don't want to know him." The blonde-haired girl said stubbornly.

"Oh c'mon, he obviously likes you, why don't you give him a chance?"

"I refuse to act like I'm happy here. I hate this place Kairi. Mother never should have married Wise-san..." Namine struggled to keep her eyes on her sketchpad, her fingers flying across the paper, her eyes tearing up with anger and sadness.

"Namine!"

"I HATE THIS PLACE AND EVERYONE IN IT!" Namine made no move to stop her hands; her delicate fingers scratching so hard again against the coarse surface with her splintered pencil that her fingers were bleeding...

"NAMINE, STOP! You're hurting yourself!" Kairi grabbed her cousin's hands and held tissues against her bleeding fingers. Namine sat in tearful silence as Kairi wrapped her fingers tightly.

"Does that mean you hate me too?" Kairi said quietly as she put Namine's sketchpad on the shelf.

"Of course not Kairi."

"Then don't say things like that. Cry all you want, but don't try to tell me lies." Kairi said sternly as she sat next to her cousin.

"I'm sorry Kairi."

"Just give this place a chance. I can't change your parents, but I can help you make it better." Kairi pulled Namine towards her and gave her a hug, while Namine just sat there.

"You know, Mother doesn't even spare me a glance."

"Don't say that she doesn't care." Kairi pulled away and sat across from Namine. Namine sniffed as she looked down at her hands.

"It was Wise-san's idea to send me to the boarding school..."

"So? This school is neat..."

"They don't want me near the mansion, so that they can focus more on their work..."

"That doesn't mean they don't care..."

"But it sure as Hell feels like it..." Namine sighed and fell against her silk pillow, singing something under her breath.

_Someday, I wish upon the light_

_To serve what I know is right_

_Will the day come I fall away?_

_Will my wish come?_

_Will the day come?_

_When I wake up for the first time_

_And we meet again?_

------------------------------------------------------

_And do you love me too?_

Roxas had come early.

And he heard everything.

The blonde-haired boy couldn't stop the hurt cutting into his heart, but he hurt for Namine when he heard her yells and her song. Her parents...

He looked down at the ground with saddened eyes, the blue faded.

Never had he hurt so much...

_Namine..._

--------------------------------------------------------------

A/n Okay! This is chapter 2, so I hope you enjoyed it. Please review b/c they really help me and encourage me, so I need feedback. Oh yeah, I also advise everyone to go get KH2 b/c it is awesome. I already beat it (beginner's mode was hard!) and then you'll know more about the characters. I'm sorry if Roxas might seem a little OOC. Also, Horacio didn't appear in this chapter, but he'll appear in the next one. Bianca is based on me, and of course, I pair myself with Axel. He's just so hott!

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/n Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but now here is the next chapter! I made you guys wait long enough, so I won't take up your time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, I would make sure Riku wasn't so lonely, Axel wouldn't have faded away, Namine and Roxas would be whole (with or without their other selves), and Sora and Kairi would have kissed at least once in the 2nd game!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Kirei na aozora no shita de... (Below the brilliantly blue sky...)

Namine lay back on her bed, surprisingly relaxed from her near-breakdown from a few hours ago. Curfew reared its ugly head in a form of a dorm advisor named Tifa, whose surprising strength (the door now sported wooden dents that nearly splintered into holes), spoke for herself. Needless to say, they didn't need to be told twice to go to bed.

She turned to see her red-haired cousin snoring slightly, the blankets flung in a heap on the floor. Namine giggled, her cousin was so silly sometimes. She got up and walked over to Kairi, picking up the pink sheets and comforter and laying them over her cousin's body. Namine smiled, and then walked back to her own bed, reflecting over her first day at Twilight High Prepatory Academy.

Everything was fine until she decided to act like a brat and cry her eyes out. Namine frowned; if it were one thing that she did consider a flaw in her emotions (she was normally pretty cheerful despite any situation; though this situation was not one of those times), it was that once she felt depressed or angry, she felt immediate guilt afterwards, like those Sour Patch Kids commercials.

_What I wouldn't give to start the day over again..._Namine sighed as she unconsciously decided to have a conversation with her conscience once again.

_Well, you made some wrong decisions, but let's face it; you can fix it. _The tiny voice began as her mind began to wander.

_Sure, I can rewind this whole day with my universal radioactive super-remote and then start the whole day with a cheesy smile on my face. _Namine replied irritably as she folded her arms behind her head, relaxing on her satin pillow despite her cranky attitude.

_I'm ignoring your sarcasm._

_You can ignore me all you want, but in the end, you're me, and I'll always win. _Namine smirked as she imagined her conscience pouting.

_You're just saying that. How 'bout we talk about something else...or rather someone else?_ The little voice inquired innocently. Instantly, Roxas flashed in her mind's eye, and her face grew warm.

_He's pretty cute ya know..._The voice went on, with a dreamy tone one might add. _He even invited you to eat lunch with him, and he's sweet and has the most beautiful eyes you have ever seen..._

_Oh shut up, will you?_ Namine angrily retorted. _He was just being polite...he could be crushing on Axel for all I know..._

_Yet again, I'm ignoring your sarcasm. _Her inner voice said with slight amusement. _Plus, you and I know he's interested in you, besides, Axel is his best friend, duh._

_Yeah, yeah...quit distracting me from the main problem..._

_What problem?_

_The current one involving the marriage, you dimwit._ Namine's blonde brows furrowed in bitterness. In frustration, she whispered, a sharpness cutting through the silent room.

"Why can't I just let it go? Why can't I just accept they're married?"

_Unfortunately, that's something I can't tell you. Your mother hasn't forgotten about your father, and you know the true answer why she married Wise-san even though it was an arranged marriage. You need to stop blaming her...it's not like she is doing this to hurt you. You know why and you have to figure that one out for yourself. _The voice faded, and Namine finally let herself fall victim to sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Namine woke to a bright sunlight peeking in through her blinds. Raking her nails through her hair, she crawled out of bed despite her body's protest for at least five more minutes of sleep.

She slowly got dressed in her uniform and brushed her blonde hair into a messy ponytail with a light blue ribbon and a few hair pins. Kairi finally woke up, rubbing sleep from her sapphire orbs, looking at her cousin in a sleepy daze.

"What are you doing Namine-chan?" Kairi asked as she propped her head with her elbow.

"Getting ready for school," Namine replied as she buckled on her Mary Janes.

"This early in the morning?" The girl yawned, rubbing her head, a mop of red strands standing on end.

Namine stared at her, a smirk threatening to grace her innocent face.

"7:13."

Kairi's eyes snapped opened.

"Why didn't you wake me, Namine-chan? You know how long it takes for me to get ready!" Kairi flew off her bed in what seemed like seconds, and ran around the room in various stages of putting on clothes and trying to brush her teeth at the same time.

"Not my fault you can't wake up on time, Kairi-chan." Namine said sweetly as she waltzed into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"It's like you have some internal clock inside you...so I take it that you're feeling better?" Kairi inquired as she hopped on one foot, pulling on her knee-high socks.

"Seeing you getting dressed in the morning like you always do, you better believe it." Namine answered before she spat into the sink, giving her reflection a smile.

The two girls continued getting ready and headed downstairs to the dorm common room, where various students were chatting, eating breakfast, or finishing assignments at the last minute. Namine spotted two girls waving to them, and dragged Kairi to them.

"Hey Kairi-chan, hello Namine-chan." Olette said happily, nudging Selphie who was about to fall asleep. The green-eyed girl sat upright, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Sorry. Just a little sleepy from the last night...Roxas couldn't get to sleep, so he asked me to talk to him on the phone until he felt tired..." Selphie rubbed her eyes, while watching Namine's face turn from happy to curious.

"What was wrong with him?"

"Wouldn't say...but he kept me up all night...talking about the most random topics..."

"Like what?" Namine inquired, sitting beside Selphie and pulling out her sketchpad to work on her art assignment.

"I dunno...he kept asking me about pickles, depression, and..." Selphie cleared her throat in awkwardness. "And...PMS."

Namine, Kairi, and Olette stared at her, aghast that Roxas was asking about this kind of stuff.

"He...sure sounds...interesting…" Kairi said, laughing weirdly, while Namine gave her a look that said, "Leave me alone."

"Ah, he's never like that though...usually he's all angsty and brooding all the time..." Olette scratched her head in thought.

"Maybe we should take him out for a night on the town!"

All four girls turned to see a dark-haired girl bounced towards them. She had short dark hair and eyes the same colour, but along with her uniform, she wore a headband tied around her forehead and gave off an air of hyperness more dangerous than Olette and Selphie combined.

"Hey Yuffie-chan! And whaddya mean, 'night on the town'?" Selphie questioned as Yuffie plopped right next to her.

"Oh, and Yuffie-chan, this is Kairi-chan and Namine-chan. They just transferred here." Olette said as the two said girls meekly waved. Yuffie, for some apparent reason, scared them more than Tifa.

"Hi, anyways..." Yuffie smirked slyly, a skill perfected since she was two. "Maybe we should take Roxas and the boys clubbing! That would certainly get them loose!"

"Uh...are you sure that request wasn't just for your benefit? You always wanted to dance with Leon-kun..." Selphie suggested, causing Yuffie's face to flush pink.

"Ha ha...but we know you like the idea...especially with Tidus-kun being there..."

"Quit it!" Selphie accidentally squeaked. "Besides...he likes Yuna-chan..."

"Leave her alone Yuffie-chan!" Olette exclaimed, defending her love-struck friend.

"Why should I, Hayner-lover?" Yuffie teased while Olette's face started to resemble a tomato.

"Did we suddenly become forgotten?" Namine inquired her cousin, who stared at the squabbling group of girls with equal confusion.

"I think we did..." Kairi responded, sitting up from her place on the couch. "C'mon, let's go get breakfast."

--------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Roxas, what's up with you? You look like you got run over by a truck or something..." Hayner commented on his friend's tired appearance. Truth be told, Roxas looked more depressed than exhausted.

"It's nothing Hayner..." Roxas banged his head on his desk, trying to remove the memories of last night's 'Namine' incident (as Roxas had dubbed it).

"It has to do with the new girl, huh?"

"No!" Roxas replied a little too quickly, causing his equally blonde friend to raise an eyebrow over his hazel eyes.

"Okay, yes."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No, we can't. The teacher..."

"Roxas, Demyx-sensei has been listening to Utada Hikaru for the last half-hour, and no one has bothered to pay attention. We can discuss it." Hayner nodded his head towards the currently dancing blonde-haired teacher listening to his i-Pod. (A/n Just wanted to point this out: I wanted to make some sort of reference to Utada Hikaru, and I figured, with Demyx loving music and everything with his short attention span, he'd be doing this...plus, he's just plain awesome.)

"It's just...let's just say it has to do...um...what I mean is...ARGH!" Roxas banged his head repeatedly with a book, his friend staring at him, aggravated.

"Wouldja quit doing that? You're going to give yourself a concussion..." Hayner took the book away from Roxas, who now sported a slight bruise on his forehead. "Anyway...I'm assuming this has something to do with her family."

Roxas usually appreciated Hayner's right-on-the-dot intuition/gut feeling, but at the moment, all he wanted was to give the boy amnesia.

"...Just don't tell anyone..." Roxas laid his tired head on the desk exhausted.

"Promise...plus, it's not my place to say...but everyone has problems with their parents."

"Bet yours are okay..." Roxas retorted.

"...May I remind you that my parents are dead?" Hayner said nonchalantly, causing Roxas's head to snap up in panic, babbling out apologies and what-not.

"Relax Roxas...I'm adopted, remember?"

Hayner...well...when he was about 3, his parents left him with his nanny while they went out for a drive. It was raining pretty hard, but when they left, it was just fine. It was about 2:00 in the morning when the police came to his parent's house...and well...that was that, so to speak.

About a year after that, he was officially taken in by his godfather, who coincidently was Riku's dad, Sephiroth Arima. Hayner officially became Riku's brother, and had been living with them ever since.

"I keep forgetting that Arima-san is now your father..." Roxas said sheepishly, while Hayner shrugged like it was no big deal. "I'm sorry about your parents..."

"It's no big deal but it's hard having Otou-san around sometimes...especially with his sword-fetish...but at least we know where Riku gets his personality from..."

"M'yep."

The two sat in silence for a bit, straying from the issue at hand, until Demyx started singing along to his music and doing the air guitar thing on his desk.

"That's just really..." Hayner started, staring at the blonde-haired mullet-haired teacher make screechy noises, totally oblivious that most of the conscious population of the class was now staring at him.

"Creepy? Strange? Unusual?" Roxas offered questioningly as he aimed a rubber band gun at the teacher.

"Weird..."

"M'yep." Roxas agreed, letting the paperclip fly at Demyx, flying directly into his forehead...hard.

"Iota-san..." Demyx inquired, as he rubbed the light pink gash on his forehead, Roxas came forward. "I was dancing again, wasn't I?"

"Yes you were sensei..."

"Okay...just making sure." Demyx then threw a water balloon at Roxas, making his spiky-hair do fall flat in seconds. "Accept your punishment with open arms, because I'd feel too guilty giving you detention..."

"You lack the evil factor." Hayner stated helpfully, while Roxas pouted and began to ring the water out of his hair.

"Don't encourage him."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The week pretty much passed uneventfully. With the new school year starting, the teachers decided to evilly load up as much homework as they could on their students, some workloads leading to mental breakdowns, and one boy sitting on top of the cafeteria, trying to boycott homework. (A/n this sounds so familiar...)

Namine, Kairi, and a few of the other girls spent their lunch time with the boys, mostly doing their work, leaving some to give up in frustration and take an F.

Fortunately, Namine was not that kind of person.

"Geez Namine-chan, how can you handle all that homework and still have time for everything else?" Yuffie asked as Namine put away her final assignment; normally, it would take the average person about 2 hours to finish an 8 page report on a 500 page book. For Namine, it took about 45 minutes.

"It was nothing." Namine smiled triumphantly as she checked the assignment in her planner. "I already read the book before, so it was no big deal."

"You never cease to amaze us, Wise-san." Riku complimented, flashing a smile towards the blonde girl. Namine giggled and blushed slightly, flattered.

"You can call me Namine..." Namine said, not catching sight of Roxas's disappointed look. Fortunately, Yuffie caught wind of it, and stood up to put her plan into action.

"Hey guys!" Everyone turned to Yuffie's direction, who was currently standing in her seat. "I know that we've been busy all week (this comment received some well-understood groans), but how 'bout we go to this hot new club that just opened up? It's called the Twilight Lock, and it's supposed to be really awesome!"

"And this is has nothing to do with some half-brained scheme of yours that we don't know about?" Roxas asked sarcastically, earning a giggle from Namine.

"C'mon Roxas, this could be awesome!" Axel threw an arm around his friend. "Think of it, hot lights, pulsing music, and the chance to dance with someone and they don't even know it's you!" Axel winked mischievously at his flustered friend, trying to get him to take the hint.

"So, this Friday night! Everyone in?" Everyone automatically raised their hands, Namine excluded.

"Hey Namine-chan, don't you wanna go?" Kairi nudged her cousin, concern spreading over her face.

"But Okaa-san wouldn't want me to go..."

"But nothing! You're going to enjoy the time that you're spending here with me whether you like it or not!" Kairi flashed her cousin a smile, Namine gaining confidence as she raised her hand with everyone else.

----------------------------------------------------------------

A/n And that concludes this chapter. Remember, this is just an itty, bitty taster to what's to come...'tis yummy. Remember to review!


End file.
